JL;DR SUMMARY Barry Beckham, a writer influenced by Franz Kafka and Ralph Ellison, authored "Runner Mack," considered the first African-American baseball novel, blending themes of racial struggle and Kafkaesque universal injustice in the story of Henry Adams, a Black baseball player facing endless trials and shattered dreams. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.